Defining Rhetoric Essay and Presentation
This assignment asks you to apply what you’ve learned this semester through our course texts, discussions, and presentations in order to develop your own definition of rhetoric.
Defining Rhetoric Essay
1. You will open this 15-20 page essay by providing a one-to-two sentence definition of rhetoric. Please stick to the limit and think very carefully of every word you select as you do this.
2. The rest of the essay will be spent providing a historical context for your definition. You can take various approaches to this aspect of the essay:
3. You need to cite a substantial number of sources from our readings. I won’t provide a number, but please engage with our readings extensively.
4. You can bring in outside sources if you feel that you need them in order to make a particular point, but they are not required and they should not be the focus of the essay.
2. The rest of the essay will be spent providing a historical context for your definition. You can take various approaches to this aspect of the essay:
- You can list each one of the cultures we studied and summarize how what you learned from them helped you define rhetoric.
- You can explain why some of the cultures we studied were more resonant with your understanding of rhetoric than others. Do you best to avoid bashing a particular culture’s rhetoric or complaining about certain readings. Instead, explain through critical thinking and citations why some are closer to your view of rhetoric than others.
- You can go by topic instead of culture, so for example, you could explore the importance of ethics in rhetoric and look at that in a variety of cultures, and then move on to audience awareness and do the same, and so on.
- You can also take a different approach to the essay’s organization but I’d like you to talk to me about it in advance so we can come up with something that meets the requirements of the assignment.
3. You need to cite a substantial number of sources from our readings. I won’t provide a number, but please engage with our readings extensively.
4. You can bring in outside sources if you feel that you need them in order to make a particular point, but they are not required and they should not be the focus of the essay.
Essay Delivery
Please complete your essay in Microsoft Word and title it using Defining Rhetoric Essay and your last name, i.e. “Defining Rhetoric Essay Royster.” Email your essay to [email protected]. The subject of your email should be “Defining Rhetoric Essay.”
Defining Rhetoric Presentation
1. You will do a 6-8-minute presentation where you provide your definition of rhetoric and a summary of the reasons why you defined rhetoric that way.
2. Make sure to draw from sources as you craft your presentation and use MLA to
format your in-text citations.
3. You can use PowerPoint, Prezi, or something else that suits what you want to do.
4. We will have a few minutes for questions and comments after you complete your presentation.
2. Make sure to draw from sources as you craft your presentation and use MLA to
format your in-text citations.
3. You can use PowerPoint, Prezi, or something else that suits what you want to do.
4. We will have a few minutes for questions and comments after you complete your presentation.
Delivery
You will deliver your 6-8 minute presentation during class on 12/6. There will be a few minutes for questions afterwards. Please make sure to practice your presentation and to stick to the time limit. Besides allowing us to have enough time for everyone to present, working on your ability to deliver your ideas within a given time limit will be great practice for conference presentations, for which you always need to be mindful of time.
Before class time on the day you present, you will upload your presentation to the course’s Google Drive folder titled “Defining Rhetoric Presentations.” The name of your presentation should be Defining Rhetoric Presentation, followed by your last name, i.e. “Defining Rhetoric Presentation Villanueva.”
Before class time on the day you present, you will upload your presentation to the course’s Google Drive folder titled “Defining Rhetoric Presentations.” The name of your presentation should be Defining Rhetoric Presentation, followed by your last name, i.e. “Defining Rhetoric Presentation Villanueva.”
Questions
If you have questions about this assignment, feel free to email me, stop by my office hours, or make an appointment.
